Hunt For Red October

The first of several films based on Tom Clancy's "Jack Ryan" technothrillers, Hunt for Red October stars Alec Baldwin as eccentric CIA analyst Ryan and Sean Connery as Soviet submarine commander Marko Ramius. Ramius sets the plot in motion when he murders his political/a>/a>/i>/a>…
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Overview

The first of several films based on Tom Clancy's "Jack Ryan" technothrillers, Hunt for Red October stars Alec Baldwin as eccentric CIA analyst Ryan and Sean Connery as Soviet submarine commander Marko Ramius. Ramius sets the plot in motion when he murders his political adviser, burns his orders, and steers his sub Red October towards American waters, hoping to defect. The CIA, aware that the Red October was about to embark on an evasive mission to demonstrate its ability to avoid detection and fire its nuclear missiles upon U.S. installations, believes that Ramius is insane, and that he plans to start World War III. To cover their own behinds, the Russians back up the CIA's suspicion. Only Jack Ryan believes that Ramius' mission is not as apocalyptic as it seems -- and it is Ryan who is assigned to infiltrate the Red October to prove his theory. The sort of film that in an earlier era would have been called a "thinking man's thriller," The Hunt for Red October ushered in a new series of Hollywood-produced post-Cold War adventure films, including 1995's Crimson Tide.

Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide

A contemplative thriller by early 1990s standards, The Hunt For Red October was the first movie based on the successful Jack Ryan novels of Tom Clancy. Robbed of much of the book's Cold War appeal by the time of its release, the movie was nonetheless embraced by American audiences; it was among the ten highest-grossing movies of 1990. It would be director John McTiernan's third major action hit following Predator and Die Hard, and he manages to maintain a high excitement level for the film's 134-minute length. Ultimately, Red October's success might have been due to the sex appeal of stars Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery. This would be Baldwin's first big-budget hit; for Connery, it continued the career upswing that had begun with The Name of the Rose and The Untouchables. Baldwin declined to reprise the Ryan role; Harrison Ford would play the character in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.